Massages are commonly performed for therapeutic purposes and for the relief of stress. Although it is most common for a user to perform massage by hand, various devices are known in the art to aid a user in providing a massage. For example, hand held devices that include wheels or rollers are used for giving a more intense massage. These types of devices are held by the hand of a user and are rolled back and forth over parts of the user's body that require stress relief. Although these types of devices work well for their intended purpose, it may be the case that they cause discomfort to the person receiving the massage when the wheels or rollers are applied to bony parts of the person's body such as his or her shoulder blades. Further, as the device is held by the hand of the user, the user generally concentrates more on rolling the device and less on the actual person receiving the massage.
Other devices used to provide massages are power driven, hand held devices that deliver percussion to the body of a person receiving the massage. These types of devices generally have two or more protrusions that vibrate and may optionally apply heat to the person's skin. The user may move the device across areas of the person's body so that the protrusions apply percussive force to muscles of the person so as to relieve stress. Although these types of devices are effective at delivering a satisfying massage they may sometimes cause discomfort upon contacting bones in the shoulders or spine of the person receiving the massage. Additionally, as these devices provide a relatively strong percussive force, they may sometimes be overused to the point at which muscle soreness results in the person receiving the massage.
Another device used for providing massage is a glove that incorporates power driven vibration elements in various portions of the glove. A user may place his or her hand within the glove and turn on the device so that areas of the glove, such as the fingers, vibrate. The user can then lay his or her hands on the person so that vibration from the glove is transferred to the person receiving the massage. Aside from requiring a constant source of power to operate the glove, these types of devices may be uncomfortable for the user of the glove as it inevitably applies vibration to the hand of the user giving the massage.
As such, there remains room for variation and improvement within the art.